8 25 - Guilt
by Galaxy-Defending-Hopeful
Summary: 8/25 for a prompt table. Prompt was 'guilt'. The guys pull a prank against a cow of a teacher, but Tom can't help but feel a little guilty. Cute, teen!Fly.


'Guilt'

Tom, Dougie, Danny and Harry were planning on getting back at the old witch, Miss Heggarty, who was headteacher at their school. One month previously there had been a series of photographs of her in a bikini circulating around, and knowing Tom's intelligence and the other three's mischievous natures, she had given them each several detentions, 'just in case' it was them. Now, they had the master prank of all master pranks planned, which would be impossible to peg on them (they hoped) and would serve her right for being such a cow.

* * *

Although the four boys were in different year groups (Tom in Year 11, Danny and Harry in Year 10 and Dougie in Year 8) the four had met through the library. Tom and Dougie had used the library to escape from bullies, and after seeing each other for the entirety of the previous year, they had finally started to speak and become friends. Then, at the start of the current school year, Danny and Harry had been recommended for 'extra help' due to lack of attention in class. 'Extra help' is provided in the form of a 'peer mentor' from another year being provided. The peer mentor can be older or younger, and it is their job to try and find out why said pupil isn't concentrating. Peer mentors are typically 'library' kids, and lo and behold, Danny was assigned Tom and Harry was assigned Dougie. The four would meet up together, and within no time the two groups of two formed a very tight group of four friends.

* * *

"Dougie, you know which one you're hitting and when, right?" Tom asked, nervously twisting his fingers together. Out of the four of them, he made the least trouble, and was incredibly anxious should their little plan go awry. Dougie nodded.

"Oh, Tom, I thought yesterday – we should go in the hall through the big bay windows instead of the door, because the CCTV has a blind spot at the windows. That'll give Harry a bit more time." Danny quietly suggested. The four were gathered in the courtyard at break, finalising the details of what was going to happen next period.

"Have you got the stuff, Tom?" Harry asked. Tom nodded, patting his shoulder bag. The bell finally rung, and they gave each other a manly hug before going off to their lessons, each smiling secretly as they thought of their plans.

* * *

Dougie had been selected as the starter because on that particular day, the Monday, he was the only one with a clock in his classroom during third period. However, when he got in, he was dismayed to find that the clock had stopped, and he would have to estimate the time.

"What's with the long face, Poynter?" the maths teacher asked good-humouredly.

"Uh, nothing, sir." he replied.

"Cheer up a bit then – it might never happen!"

Dougie sighed and sat down – he hated that phrase anyway (WHAT might never happen?) but in this case, it was true. If he slipped off guard for one minute, they'd be toast. It _would _never happen. Tapping his foot on the floor, Dougie totally ignored whatever the teacher was blabbering on about...

"So, Dougie, how did you get the answer to the first question – a plus b over five, plus a minus b over 3?"

He stared at the teacher. "Can I go to the toilet?" he asked. It must be about time.

"Once you've answered the question."

"Um...well..." Dougie glanced at the book of the girl next to him, Lara. She was smart. Thank god, she'd written down how to do it as well as her workings and answers.

"Well, you find out the lowest common denominator, which would be fifteen, so the bottom one is fifteen. Then you work out how many threes you need to get fifteen – five – so on top you do five, brackets a plus b closed brackets. Then you do the plus and you need three fives to get fifteen so you do three brackets a minus b, then you solve the brackets and you get 5a plus 5b plus 3a minus 3b over fifteen, and you collect the liketerms."

"Very well read, Dougie." the teacher sarcastically replied, getting giggles from the other students. "You may go to the toilet now."

Dougie fled the room, his cheeks pink. That was an ordeal! How the hell was he meant to know how to add algebraic fractions? Now he was probably a little late as well. However, he forced himself to walk rather than run – if he ran and was noticed, it'd be a lot more noticeable and remembered that just some kid walking to the loo. Finally, he reached the planned fire alarm. It was right by a loo, and he planned on setting it off, dashing into a cubicle, waiting until he heard people walking past them come out, looking surprised. That way, he wouldn't be incriminated. Grinning, he slipped on one of his winter gloves (fingerprints) and pressed it. The siren like wail burst out of the wall, making him wince a little, it was so loud. Ducking into a cubicle, he stood, waiting. Waiting for the sound of hurried footsteps, teachers shouting and the low hum of repressed chatter. Soon enough it came, and he exited the stall. Thank god, the people coming past were his classmates. He ran up to the teacher and angelically asked,

"What happened?"

"There must be a fire." the teacher replied, worried. "There isn't a drill planned for today."

"I hope that everyone is okay!" Dougie insincerely replied. He had a bit of reputation as a very sweet troublemaker, and was able to wrap most teachers around his little finger quite easily, so he was able to escape from trouble quite often. If he could convince his teacher that he was shocked at this, he would be able to remove the blame from himself quite easily. Guiltlessly, he joined his form.

* * *

Tom, Harry and Danny had managed to escape to the hall. Tom threw a can of spraypaint to Harry, which he quickly used to block off the CCTV cameras. He then distributed the marker pens and shaving foam amongst the three of them, and they began their work. Tom, being the most artistic of the three, used a marker pen to draw the initial outline. The three of them then began to outline it quickly with the shaving foam. Then, as Harry completed the finishing touches on the giant image, Danny and Tom used the markers to 'edit' a few of the photographs around the hall – images of old headteachers, photographs from old school productions, and most importantly, a giant old photograph of Mr Heggarty, the very first headmaster of the school and bitchy Miss Heggarty's father. Within three minutes of arriving, they were done, and were off to join their forms, not actually arriving last! Tom, however, felt awful. What had they _done? _If they got found out, they would be expelled for sure. Guilt filled him as he thought about the giant shaving foam penis in the hall, just waiting to be found.

* * *

After there was no fire found, everyone was sent back to their classrooms. However, a huge crowd started to swarm around the huge, clear bay windows, and great shouts of laughter were flooding through them. Dougie, Danny, Harry and Tom all found each other and jointed the crowd at the back.

"What's going on?" Harry asked some kid in his year, trying not to grin as he thought of their handiwork.

"Someone's made a giant cock out of whipped cream or something!"

Harry burst out laughing, and made a production of telling the other three, who also laughed. Tom laughed the least, however – although he was glad they had taken revenge, he was also crazily nervous. Fear was dripping through him. He knew that eventually he would have to confess to what he had done. Danny, seemingly sensing his concern, grabbed him into a hug.

"Don't worry." he quietly told him. Tom did worry, though. He worried all too much.

* * *

The hall was locked off for a week as it was cleaned and polished, during which time Tom's guilt grew and grew. He felt even worse when someone told him that they'd seen Miss Heggarty crying as she looked at the giant photograph of her father. Sure, she was an old cow, but what they had done went beyond pranking. It was spiteful. The other three, however, managed to convince him not to own up.

"Dude, you'd be expelled!" Dougie said. "Don't worry about it! You finish school here once you've finished your exams anyway, you'll be gone soon. I bet you'll forget all about it within a month.

Tom never would forget it, of course, and even when he was a 40 year old and had been in a band for over twenty years, he still felt a twinge of guilt whenever he thought about it.


End file.
